Very ripe bananas, ginger beer and so-called zero per cent beer all have something in common - trace levels of alcohol, some of which are surprisingly high.
Fair Go organised testing of a sample of store-bought ginger beer which came in at 0.44% alcohol by volume, close to the 0.5% limit on zero-alcohol drinks.
The ginger beer is sold in the soft drinks aisle without restrictions, while a major brewer's zero-alcohol lager might get you an ID check at the supermarket.
It's on sale alongside full-strength beverages in the beer and wine section but tested at 0.21% abv - half the strength of that ginger beer sample.
Auckland University wine scientist Dr Rebecca Deed said it's just one of the odd features of alcohol sale regulations.
"In your baking aisle, right next to the hundreds and thousands and the cupcake cases is vanilla essence which is like 35% alcohol most of the time...that's pretty crazy if you think about it and that's not regulated," Reed observed.
It's part of the puzzle for customer Elyse Mansel who went shopping for zero-alcohol drinks without her ID and was refused service, even though she is 33 years old and a regular customer at her local New World supermarket in Waiuku.
"It was embarrassing. I've been going there for like five years buying alcohol without a problem and then when I go to buy zero per cent alcohol they ID me," Mansel told Fair Go.
Embarrassing and inconvenient - she hadn't expected the check and hadn't brought ID with her into the store.
She was shopping for groceries the next day and ran an experiment - adding the same drinks to her trolley.
"The guy that was supervising that day just scanned it through," Mansel said. No ID check this time, which Mansel found frustratingly inconsistent.
"We're sorry to hear Elyse had an experience in one of our stores she wasn't happy with," Foodstuffs head of public relations Emma Wooster said.
She confirmed that it's not a legal requirement to ask for ID on zero-alcohol sales as they aren't age-restricted, it's just store policy to do regular ID checks.
"Several of the 0% products share the same branding and imagery as those that are alcoholic, so it's always best to check and we don't want to encourage young people to drink products like wine, beer, or spirits, even if they are alcohol free," Wooster said.
She also confirmed non-alcoholic kombucha or ginger beer shouldn't require an ID check.
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